LEDs + Foam Board Masks = ???
December 14, 2010 6:07 AM Subscribe
How could I integrate LEDs into masks like these?
Fellow MeFite NotSoSinister and I have been using these masks for DJing lately (That's actually us in the photo) They're a joy to use, so we're looking to expand our collection a bit.
We're thinking that the LEDs would probably cover the entire face of the mask.
Would we have to stick to one color only? Are their ones that change color?
Is there also a good way to program such LEDs, to create faces and the like? (Consider that we're on a stage and don't have tons of time to fool around with them, and I myself am quite mobile and moving around on stage.)
Also, any safety considerations/wearability issues, etc.? The masks are basically worn around our faces with a Velcro band, but we're probably going to mod them to accommodate the electronics anyway.
And for the record, we don't really have soldering experience or anything like that, if we'd need it... so any basic ways to get started, a crash course, would be appreciated so we could do this safely.
Fellow MeFite NotSoSinister and I have been using these masks for DJing lately (That's actually us in the photo) They're a joy to use, so we're looking to expand our collection a bit.
We're thinking that the LEDs would probably cover the entire face of the mask.
Would we have to stick to one color only? Are their ones that change color?
Is there also a good way to program such LEDs, to create faces and the like? (Consider that we're on a stage and don't have tons of time to fool around with them, and I myself am quite mobile and moving around on stage.)
Also, any safety considerations/wearability issues, etc.? The masks are basically worn around our faces with a Velcro band, but we're probably going to mod them to accommodate the electronics anyway.
And for the record, we don't really have soldering experience or anything like that, if we'd need it... so any basic ways to get started, a crash course, would be appreciated so we could do this safely.
1. There's no reason why you need to stick to one colour. But you may well need to use different resistor values in series with the different colours. Resistors are essential as running LEDs directly from a power supply or battery will tend to lead to excessive current and 'blow' the LEDs after a while. Once you know the voltage and current characteristics of your chosen LEDs, you can input the values here to get a little cirguit diagram to show you how to wire LEDs and resistors in a fairly optimal way. Also, that website contains all kinds of useful and cool LED-related stuff.
2. Generally speaking, colour-changing LEDs use a driver IC or circuit to drive either groups of individual red, green, and blue LEDs to achieve various colours, or to drive RGB LEDs, which are basically a red, green and blue LED combined into a single package. Here's a popular controller from Big Clive, and here's a board you can use to wire up lots of SuperFlux LEDs (big bright LEDs) and resistors to make a big colour-changing LED spotlight thing. As you can see, there's quite a lot involved.
3. Programming LEDs. The controller I mentioned in (2) controls just three channels - enough to produce a single colour with multiple groups of red, green and blue LEDs. And that's all it'll do. To control a large number of LEDs individually (i.e. to make images) you're going to need to multiplex them in some way and then control them with a microcontroller such as a PIC or an Arduino or something. These have their own learning curve in terms of programming. Personally I'd go down the Arduino route because it's more user-friendly. To control multiple LEDs from an Arduino, there are various techniques. Probably the simplest is to use LED driver ICs. A cheaper way to go (one I've used) is to use 595 shift registers, each of which can control eight LEDs. You obviously need quite a few of them to drive lots of LEDs, but fortunately they're cheap to buy in bulk. I've got a drawer-full.
4. The only safety concerns will be with short-circuiting your power supply or batteries. But as long as you test everything and preferably insulate any bare wire with heat-shrink you should be ok.
So you, you're going to need to learn to solder, how to program a microcontroller, and how to plan a stripboard layout (or maybe even etch a PCB!). It's all do-able, but ideally you need to have some understanding of that you're doing, and it's definitely not something you can do for pennies.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 6:47 AM on December 14, 2010 [2 favorites]
2. Generally speaking, colour-changing LEDs use a driver IC or circuit to drive either groups of individual red, green, and blue LEDs to achieve various colours, or to drive RGB LEDs, which are basically a red, green and blue LED combined into a single package. Here's a popular controller from Big Clive, and here's a board you can use to wire up lots of SuperFlux LEDs (big bright LEDs) and resistors to make a big colour-changing LED spotlight thing. As you can see, there's quite a lot involved.
3. Programming LEDs. The controller I mentioned in (2) controls just three channels - enough to produce a single colour with multiple groups of red, green and blue LEDs. And that's all it'll do. To control a large number of LEDs individually (i.e. to make images) you're going to need to multiplex them in some way and then control them with a microcontroller such as a PIC or an Arduino or something. These have their own learning curve in terms of programming. Personally I'd go down the Arduino route because it's more user-friendly. To control multiple LEDs from an Arduino, there are various techniques. Probably the simplest is to use LED driver ICs. A cheaper way to go (one I've used) is to use 595 shift registers, each of which can control eight LEDs. You obviously need quite a few of them to drive lots of LEDs, but fortunately they're cheap to buy in bulk. I've got a drawer-full.
4. The only safety concerns will be with short-circuiting your power supply or batteries. But as long as you test everything and preferably insulate any bare wire with heat-shrink you should be ok.
So you, you're going to need to learn to solder, how to program a microcontroller, and how to plan a stripboard layout (or maybe even etch a PCB!). It's all do-able, but ideally you need to have some understanding of that you're doing, and it's definitely not something you can do for pennies.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 6:47 AM on December 14, 2010 [2 favorites]
There are countless Arduino developers doing demented things with LEDs and other simple tech. There are Triple Output RGB LEDs, and (slightly pricey) programmable ones.
What I'd be concerned about is battery life for a whole show, and making sure your wiring stays in place (that's why soldering is your friend). There are no nasty voltages involved with LEDs, Arduinos are cheap(ish), and there's a huge community for whom the idea of flashing foam-core DJ masks makes perfect sense.
posted by scruss at 6:49 AM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
What I'd be concerned about is battery life for a whole show, and making sure your wiring stays in place (that's why soldering is your friend). There are no nasty voltages involved with LEDs, Arduinos are cheap(ish), and there's a huge community for whom the idea of flashing foam-core DJ masks makes perfect sense.
posted by scruss at 6:49 AM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
Adafruit has a wide selection of color controllable RGB LEDs and tutorials on how to use them.
posted by ecurtz at 8:18 AM on December 14, 2010
posted by ecurtz at 8:18 AM on December 14, 2010
BlinkMs are pretty fun. They are RGB LEDs that come in three sizes and are programmable. They would probably be cost prohibitive though.
posted by Gainesvillain at 8:32 AM on December 14, 2010
posted by Gainesvillain at 8:32 AM on December 14, 2010
I made some LED spotlights for a Halloween project this year and they were pretty easy to work with. I bought 50 each of blue and green LEDs off of ebay for $2.99 a batch (shipped!) and they came with the resistors. Only basic soldering was required. Get or make a set of helping hands if you go this route. We powered them with wall warts but a 9volt battery works great too.
posted by Big_B at 8:51 AM on December 14, 2010
posted by Big_B at 8:51 AM on December 14, 2010
Look into some el (electroluminescent) wire as well as leds
posted by bravowhiskey at 10:31 AM on December 14, 2010
posted by bravowhiskey at 10:31 AM on December 14, 2010
LEDs are *wonderful*. You might be interested in a really low-tech way of lighting the masks. Daft Punk Helmet it ain't, but it will be quick and easy.
Simple solution: Buy a AA-powered string of Christmas lights. These blink like crazy and change colors with no thought or wiring on your part.
An ugly, slightly more complex solution: Buy LEDs individually (I like these a lot). Next, link them together with solder/wire or use this awesome copper tape and wire glue. LEDs come with two leads - one short and one long. Link all the short ones together and then link all the long ones together. Next, link the battery/batteries' + terminal to the long leads and the - terminal to the short leads. I like these batteries - they're 3.7V which is a good for LEDs. For what it's worth, I've never used resistors on my LED costumes, and have yet to have problems. Instead, I run it for 10 minutes and see if they're the least bit hot by sticking one of the LEDs on my tongue. If not, it's good.
posted by cr_joe at 11:26 AM on December 14, 2010
Simple solution: Buy a AA-powered string of Christmas lights. These blink like crazy and change colors with no thought or wiring on your part.
An ugly, slightly more complex solution: Buy LEDs individually (I like these a lot). Next, link them together with solder/wire or use this awesome copper tape and wire glue. LEDs come with two leads - one short and one long. Link all the short ones together and then link all the long ones together. Next, link the battery/batteries' + terminal to the long leads and the - terminal to the short leads. I like these batteries - they're 3.7V which is a good for LEDs. For what it's worth, I've never used resistors on my LED costumes, and have yet to have problems. Instead, I run it for 10 minutes and see if they're the least bit hot by sticking one of the LEDs on my tongue. If not, it's good.
posted by cr_joe at 11:26 AM on December 14, 2010
Response by poster: Hm, all very interesting. I think I'll go the individual lights way, but I'm still awfully confused.
So, I figured that I'll by however many lights I need on the mask. And an Arduino to control them all. But how do I wire them all together so I can control them? Because the Arduino doesn't have enough inputs for 50 lights obviously. Is this where multiplexing comes in? But how do I do that, and how do I not sacrifice control of individual lights?
The problem with the strips is that I can't seem to find ones that let you program individual lights on the strip, but I can't seem to find anything like that.
It brings even more questions!
posted by Askiba at 1:57 PM on December 14, 2010
So, I figured that I'll by however many lights I need on the mask. And an Arduino to control them all. But how do I wire them all together so I can control them? Because the Arduino doesn't have enough inputs for 50 lights obviously. Is this where multiplexing comes in? But how do I do that, and how do I not sacrifice control of individual lights?
The problem with the strips is that I can't seem to find ones that let you program individual lights on the strip, but I can't seem to find anything like that.
It brings even more questions!
posted by Askiba at 1:57 PM on December 14, 2010
Here's a strip where you can program individual lights on the strip.
posted by moonmilk at 2:19 PM on December 14, 2010
posted by moonmilk at 2:19 PM on December 14, 2010
Because the Arduino doesn't have enough inputs for 50 lights obviously. Is this where multiplexing comes in? But how do I do that, and how do I not sacrifice control of individual lights?
Yes, that's where multiplexing comes in, for example: serial-to-parallel shifting. Using a load of 595 shift registers (this link again) allows you to control pretty much any number of individual LEDs from just three Arduino outputs. You just extend the circuit to chain more and more 595s together. The number of inputs stays the same.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 2:04 AM on December 15, 2010
Yes, that's where multiplexing comes in, for example: serial-to-parallel shifting. Using a load of 595 shift registers (this link again) allows you to control pretty much any number of individual LEDs from just three Arduino outputs. You just extend the circuit to chain more and more 595s together. The number of inputs stays the same.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 2:04 AM on December 15, 2010
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posted by jon1270 at 6:29 AM on December 14, 2010